Rolex 116500

Rolex

Ref. 116500

Watch n° 1 for number of VIPs spotted with this watch
Rolex n° 1 for number of VIPs spotted with this watch
Number of VIPs spotted with this watch: 85
Number of total spotted: 91
Preferred VIP category: footballer (31 VIPs)
List price: £9,550
Market price: $27,000

The Rolex 116500 — officially the Cosmograph Daytona 116500LN — has turned up on the wrists of a remarkably broad cross-section of public figures. Actors Mark Wahlberg, Tom Cruise and Russell Crowe have all been spotted wearing it, as has comedian Kevin Hart. The footballer contingent is particularly strong: Christian Eriksen, Karim Benzema, Angel Di Maria, Enzo Fernández, Lothar Matthäus and Miroslav Klose are among those confirmed in our database, alongside rising names like Lucas Vazquez, Sofyan Amrabat and Zakaria Aboukhlal. Outside sport and entertainment, entrepreneurs, a politician in Nikolai Astrup, model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, television presenter Diletta Leotta and Olympic sprint champion Marcell Jacobs round out a list that now stands at 85 verified sightings. That mix of professions — spanning Hollywood, European football, athletics and business — points to a watch that has found genuine traction well beyond any single fan base.

Demand for the Rolex 116500 has consistently outpaced supply since the reference launched at Baselworld 2016. At an official retail price in the region of $14,550 USD (Oystersteel, ceramic bezel), it sits at the accessible end of serious sports-watch pricing, which only amplifies the frustration: authorized dealer waitlists have stretched to several years in many markets, and grey-market premiums have at various points pushed transaction prices past $20,000–$30,000 USD depending on dial color and market conditions. The black-dial and white-dial variants each carry their own premium hierarchy on the secondary market. For a watch that never officially left production, that sustained scarcity is unusual, and it is a significant part of why sightings keep accumulating across so many different celebrity circles.

The 116500LN houses Rolex's in-house Calibre 4130, a COSC-certified column-wheel chronograph movement, in a 40mm Oystersteel case with a black ceramic bezel — a specification upgrade over the previous 116520 that helped renew interest in the line when it arrived. Singer Macklemore and writer Giorgia Mondani, herself a well-known Rolex authority, are among those who helped keep the reference visible in the years following its debut.